What’s up friends??
Blog 3 is all about a subject that I’m very passionate about. Nutrition.
Like the saying goes: “You are what you eat”. I teach my clients that it’s the 80/20 rule when it comes to creating a healthy lifestyle.
It’s 80% nutrition and 20% training. You can do 100 pushups, or squats, and get a good workout, but it’s the habits around food that are most people’s biggest challenge.
Food is a tough because we have to eat in order to live.
Not to mention, when we are happy, we eat. When we are sad, we eat. At holidays, we eat. You get it…
Many of our emotions (particularly happiness) are tied to food.
For example: As a kid, if you misbehaved and your mom disciplined you. You probably ran crying to your grandma’s house across the street.
Then, as grandma’s do, she gave you a hug and you calmed down. And of course you had to have some of those amazing chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven.
Considering this scenario, your brain might associate comfort (happiness) with sweets.
If this association (pattern) continues, you will eat sweets whenever you are feeling down because your brain associates happiness and comfort with sweets.
This is a tough cycle to break. Unless you change your association with food.
Food (nutrition) is fuel.
You wouldn’t put 87 fuel into your Ferrari.
So why would you do the same (or worse) by putting garbage nutrition into your PRICELESS body?
I’ve watched the Discovery Channel countless times, and I’ve never seen an overweight gazelle, or a chubby cheetah. We cannot live to our full potential if we are (literally) weighed down.
I’m sorry if that’s blunt. But we weren’t designed to be overweight.
It’s ok to eat sweets, carbs and fats (aka celebration foods) but not everyday. You might think “every day is my birthday” but that leads to a myriad of problems if that becomes a habit.
Enjoy those foods, but enjoy them in moderation.
Our bodies are designed to crave fat and sweets, because they are energy foods. The problem is, fats and sweets (especially processed ones) are EVERYWHERE.
When we understand what food actually does to our body on the cellular level, then our habits around food can change.
So how did I become passionate about nutrition???
I was training for my last season of college football (read Blog #2). My strength coach was an accomplished body builder and had vast knowledge about food and nutrition.
Because it was my “last hurrah”, I was going to give it all I had. While I always trained hard, I never paid attention to my diet like I could’ve.
I was looking for an edge so I decided to go all in on my diet. My motivation was completely performance based.
I knew that food was important but had never fully dedicated myself to eating clean and understanding what food does to your body. I didn't have anyone to model until I met my coach (ie. being a product of the 5 closest people to you).
Long story short, I started tracking my food, watching sugar intake, limiting alcohol, and being consistent with my diet, and I had my best summer of training ever.
I ran my best 40 yard dash ever (4.37 seconds) and was super lean (216 pounds).
This change in nutrition, along with training, enabled me to have my best football season and enable me to play pro football after that.
Since then, I fell in love with nutrition and how you could affect your performance and change your body. One of the best books I’ver ever read on the subject is: The China Study by Dr. Thomas Campbell II.
Now my passion is passing this along to others and changing the world through health, fitness, and finances.
In lieu of that, I wanted to share one of my favorite recipes with you! It also happens to be part of my 28 Day Challenge:
Broiled Salmon
Ingredients:
- 2 x 6 oz. ounces Salmon Fillets
- Himalayan Pink Salt
- Fresh ground pepper
- 1 tsp grated lemon rind
- 2 Tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice, divided
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp. dried rosemary
- Lemon slices for garnish
Directions: Season salmon fillets evenly with salt and pepper. In a plastic bag, place salmon, lemon rind, 1 Tbsp. of the lemon juice, 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil, and rosemary in a Ziploc bag. Make sure the salmon is evenly coated. Marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Preheat your broiler. Brush a baking dish with olive oil. Remove salmon from marinade. Place fillets, skin side down, on the oil-coated dish. Broil fish 6 inches from heat for about 8-10 minutes or until fillets flake easily with a fork.
Whisk together remaining tablespoon of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon oil; drizzle over fillets. Garnish, with lemon slices.
In addition to food, we need to pay attention to our micro-nutrition (vitamins and minerals). Watch this short video I made on micro-nutrition here.
If you need to get your nutrition on point I highly recommend these vitamins as a way to do that. If you'd like to have my discount click the button below:
As always, I believe in you!
Your friend,
Nate